The shine is off...... Oh Big Jaw....

3 games into the 2013 season, and the 49ers are 1-2. The sole win being week one against the Packers, and that was in doubt until a 4th down conversion late led to a clinching FG. Even then the "soft" Packers were every bit as physical as the big bad Niners. If not for Green Bay's inability to Cover Aquan Boldin, San Francisco might very well be 0-3.

I have to admit. I didn't think ol' Big Jaw Harbaugh would have fallen this soon. 3 weeks and the biggest, baddest bully in the NFC had 3 punks stand up and hit 'em back. Big Jaw had no answers to that, because if he's not the toughest kid on the block he's not much else. Simple scheme with no answers if it doesn't work.

I knew for sure in week 2. A 49er defender planted Seahawk QB Russell Wilson after he handed off on a read option, and I thought "Wow. Ol' Big Jaw can dish it out, but in the lead up to week one when Clay Matthews talked about hitting Kaepernick, Ol' Big Jaw didn't like hearing that." Anyway - Wilson got up without a lineman rescuing him. and Seattle continued it's ass kicking of Big Jaw's Boys. The 49ers had nothing to answer. No changes. not one adjustment - just more "we're tougher." That didn't work either.

Week 3, the Colts did the same thing. The Colts! We already knew the Seahawks were badasses, but the Colts? They punched the Niners in the teeth, and Big Jaw had nothing. Captain Comeback's old team told him to sit down and STFU. Trent Richardson - Pow! Ahmad Bradshaw - Pow! It was like the old Batman TV show. I kept waiting for the graphics to come up, and the camera angle to go to 45 degrees.

He was the coach to be man, Ol' Big Jaw Harbaugh. Now, surely things will be better when Michael Crabtree, and Vernon Davis come back, but then it's the same talent in the same old scheme that only works when he's able to push your team around. Now they now just hit him back. The Niners aren't so tough. Whose gonna do Pepsi commercials and stare at a blank white board now? Maybe ol' Big Jaw should put the Pepsi down, and draw on the board and figure out something to do now that everyone knows his team isn't that tough?

Whose culture of dependency?

Why is it they need to cut food stamps citing "ending the culture of dependency" for poor people, but they never talk about cutting subsidies for big agriculture, or defense contractors, or telecoms, or any of the other big businesses who, for years, use subsidies, and other tax loopholes. Isn't THAT a "culture of dependency" too? There's one important difference. People that use food stamps are, well first off 2/3rd are kids, but the rest are not campaign donors. So the tough talk the tea party simpletons put out there about budgets, and "dependency" is just a collection of platitudes that gets their benefactors to open the checkbook.

It's the same thing in a different vein when it comes to the circle jerk in the House with the 42nd vote to repeal the ACA, or to de-fund it in the looming debt limit. Why are House Republicans passing a bill that will not pass a Senate controlled by the Democrats, or surely get the VETO if it gets to the White House? Principle? A principled politician - that's really sweet of you. It's to show the check writers they're deserving of a little something something for the PAC. Those check writers don't want the ACA.

Here's my question: if the ACA is so bad, and will be so much suckitude in application why don't those who oppose it just let it suck, ride the suckage to election wins - since it'll suck so much right - and the repeal it?

Answer: It won't suck, and there goes the "culture of dependency" that those check writers will have to live without.

It's important to remember that when these things because they're never mentioned in the "red team/blue team" bullshit narrative that mainstream media thinks is "balanced" coverage.

Redskins - c'mon how is that not a slur?!?!?!

Every year it comes up, and every year it stays the same. Washington Redskins. Change the name. It doesn't honor the native Americans. It's a slur.

I've got a  better idea than trying to get the Washington Redskins to change their name. Let's use all the slurs we can. Shit, it's a melting pot.

Here are a few names suggestions:

Carolina Cousin Fuckers, Memphis Toothless Hillbillies, Philadelphia Greaseballs, New York Goombas, Houston Hicks, Dallas Redneck Pussies, San Francisco Sodomizers, Montreal Mongoloids, Notre Dame Drunk Irish, Kansas City Crackers,

Retire the number......once Brett is in Canton

Retire the number. We know it's deserved for what was done on the field. Enough of the drama

For at least 3 years prior to Brett's first retirement there was the "will Brett retire" dance. After the 2007 season this is pretty much what happened:

Pack: Brett, c'mon man. we do this every year. It's getting old. Make up your mind for everyone

Brett: Well, right now, in March, I think I'll retire.

Press conference, I've loved Green Bay. We loved you too Brett. You're the best. No, you're the best

August rolls around

Brett: Man, I know I retired, but it's time for camp. I miss the guys, and playing. I'm not retiring.

Pack: OK, but you have to win the job.

Brett: S'cuse me? I'm Brett f'n Favre. It's my job.

Pack: Negative - you have to win it. Canton bound or not.

Brett: That's BS. Brett Favre don't carry a clipboard. I'm playing.

Pack: Not if you don't win it.

Brett: 3 MVPs, and a Superbowl ring. My job.

Pack: All 10 years old. You have to win it.

Brett: Might as well trade me, cuz' the ol gunslinger is playin'

Pack: OK, but not in the division. You're going to the Jets.

2008 rolls on. Brett's a Jet. Good start, bad finish.

Brett: My arm hurts. I'm retiring - for real this time.

Vikings: Not so fast. Think about it. We're not in a hurry. Jackson.....he's not good.

Brett: Alright I'll think about it.

Vikings: Too bad about the end in Green Bay. We feel terrible for you.

Brett: Thanks man. Chilly, you're alright, and I know Darrell from back in the day. Remember my 3 MVPs?

Vikings: Hellz yeah

Brett: Alright. I'm playing.

Brett tears it up in 2009, but Brett's away the Conference Title against the Saints.

Brett has a forgettable 2010, and A-Rod leads the Pack to SuperBowl LXV.

He want to keep playing, and prove he had it. Nothing more than that. Favre haters need to get over it all.

Brett Favre's number #4 should be retired. The same as Bart Starr's #15. Just like #15 though, #4 should wait until he's enshrined in Canton. Not out of spite, but because that's the Packer way.

Enough with the uniforms already.........

Really. Enough.

Anyone's favorite sports team has too many uniforms. There's the traditional home and away, and most fans don't see a problem with buying a jersey of their favorite player, but really, too much.

Home, away, alternate, throwbacks. It's too much. The Chicago Bears wore orange jerseys. ORANGE!!!! As a Packer fan I'm all for making the Bears look silly, but those orange jerseys (ORANGE!!!!) reminded me of a winter game in Lambeau full of Packer fans wearing their hunting coats. The Chicago Bears should not take the field in orange jerseys. (ORANGE!?!?)

I know the owners need to make a buck, and it's not like stadiums pay for themselves. Taxpayers can do that. I even get it when people say "Hey. Cool orange Bears jersey." (ORANGE???) But really, do the players have to wear them too? My hometown Milwaukee Brewers have home whites, and road grays. That's not enough somehow. There's the navy jerseys. One says "Brewers" One says "Milwaukee" Then there's the wheat colored "gold" option. What is this, bar league softball? That's 6 f'n uniforms!!!!

But wait. There's more. Don't forget the throwbacks. Let's see, there were the Steelers throwbacks that looked like bumble bee stripes, or prisoners.  Then the Vikings throwbacks went with the actual purple as opposed to the sparkly Prince purple, with white vents, and gold piping. Cowboys with white helmets, and stars on the shoulder. I guess to harken back to the day when sparkly paint had not been invented. Ahhhh those were the days. The Packers with the navy jerseys, and brown helmets. Then the Browns looked like....well the Browns.

The fans that buy orange Bear jerseys (ORANGE!!!) are going to buy them whether the Bears play in them or not. Some people just like ugly ass clothes. As long as we're picking up the stadium tab, could you guys throttle back the bumblebee stripes, and blaze orange? Really - orange??

Jumping out of the speakers

This is a new favorite description of mine. I heard it a few years ago on VH1 behind the music, or a top 100 of the 80s, or some wasted time on television that I should have spent writing, or something that I'll never get back. But I digress. Music, or sounds that "jump out of the speakers" are the things that resonate with all of us. We all have different songs, and there are some we have in common. So I took some time, and made a list of some of mine.

She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult

There's more than one way to jump out of the speakers, but She Sells Sanctuary does it with a one of a kind guitar lick that permeates any room it reaches, and Ian Astbury's vocal clarity dominates, and the song explodes after the opening guitar loop.  Billy Duffy's riff lives on in the same strata as the opener to Brown Sugar, and You Really Got Me. This one lives on all by itself. Ian Astbury's powerful voice repeats the same verse, but it doesn't matter. This song jumps out and gets you. This is the birth of what we call "Alternative" today. The Cult were the forerunners to Nirvana, and Pearl Jam in the 90s, and today's Green Days.



Where The Streets Have No Name - U2

There's so much going on here it's almost too much. There's the opening crescendo that bursts into Bono's vocal, and the lyrical tone of a desperate search for.....whatever one's searching for and this song jumps from the get go. This is the first song, for me anyway, where I really heard, and thought about Edge as a first rate guitar player. I don't know how he gets so much sound out. They sound like two or more guitarists, and it's just one guy. It's probably the song that gave us the first idea that U2 would be the biggest band in the world since the Beatles.



Badlands - Bruce Springsteen

Springsteen (personally) could fill a list of "jumping out of the speakers" himself but Badlands is my pick as the best of his. It has the qualities of a hymn, and religious revival, as lyrics of finding redemption wherever one may get into you. "I believe in the love that you gave me/I believe in the faith that can save me/I believe in the hope and I pray that someday it may raise me above these badlands" It's the best live song he does. Lyrical wisdom, and a hopeful keyboard part force this song into the listener. The imagery put into your head by the lyrics and you can't help but feel the emotion of a man yearning for redemption from whatever; shattered love, life's hard times, the wear and tear of just trying. It wears on us all, but redemption is within - find it.



Free Fallin' - Tom Petty

Some songs jump out to get you the way a thunderstorm does. Free Fallin jumps out the way a warm breeze envelops you as you sit outside on a summer day. It just goes through you. The simple acoustic riff, and Tom's distinctive voice just melts into and around you. I remember hearing the echo of "Free Fallin" during the chorus thinking "Nobody can sing like Tom Petty." Not that he's a technically great vocalist, but he's so distinctive. This is another song you have to experience live. The sound of the ENTIRE arena, or amphitheatre (if you're lucky enough to catch as outside show - where Petty belongs) singing the chorus......it's the sensation that the word "unbelievable" was invented to describe.



Holiday - Green Day

"Can  I get another amen! AMEN!!!" It's been said all you need to be a rock star is 3 chords and the truth. This is a living example of that platitude. The political/cultural theme of the piece only adds to the power of Armstrong's underlying riff. It's been said that Green Day musically is not complicated endeavor, but that's it's brilliance. Simple pieces are laid down as a base, and the truth (at least as the writer sees it) is generously applied, and the result is an infectious back beat, amazing guitar groove, and lyrics that tell you how full of shit you are. It's what rock and roll is at it's best, and Holiday is a shining example.



Kickin' My Heart Around - The Black Crowes

Love stinks, and while J. Geils tongue in cheek is another candidate for this list, the urgency of Chris Robinson's "Fo' the last tiiimeeee - STOP KICKIN' MY HEART AROUND!!" over a lick, that's on top of a slide lick just explodes. This is blues infused rock and roll in a straight line from Little Richard, to Led Zeppelin to Black Crowes. It's a punch in the face, or a punch in the gut depending on your most recent experience with love, or what you may have though was. Powerful from beginning to end.



Don't Stop Believing - Journey

Easy. Steve Perry. I'm glad I found a decent live clip, because Steve Perry is not a product of the studio. While Escape was the 3rd Journey album featuring him, this was the first time his voice was on full display. "Somewhere in the niiiiiiiiight" That sound is permanently ingrained in anyone from the 80s memory banks, and this song lives on. (and on and on and oooonnnnn - I know, but too easy)



I know there  are more, but this is a blog. It's gotta end.

Same Sex Marraige - What's the big deal?

This has nothing in common with girls wanting to be on the football team, polygamous families, or bestiality fetishes. Those are distracting arguments.
Quite simply homosexual couples are seeking equal recognition under the law of their unions by having them called marriages, and therefore enjoying all the rights that follow; property rights, end of life decisions, tax filing, etcetera. I've heard no fact based argument against same sex marriages. Homosexual marriages don't "redefine" marriages for all. Marriage is a union, and life commitment between two people. The commitment of two homosexuals does not weaken the commitment of two heterosexuals. These marriages are independent of each other. Two lesbians, or two homosexual men who have made this commitment should be able to make end of life decisions, or pass property to each other without the extra-legal work needed under current law. As many smarter than myself have noted the social construct of marriage has evolved from its definition since medieval times from marriages outside of social caste, race, faith, and so on. 

As to families and child rearing, there is no clear evidence that children raised by homosexual couples have significantly different outcomes than kids raised by heterosexual couples. Research does show that children do best in households where both biological parents are present in the same household for their complete growth and development. 50% of traditional marriages end in divorce, so even half of the preferred settings don't meet the standard. Comparing heterosexual households with one biological parent, and homosexual households with one biological parent, or adoptive households with zero biological parents (hetero and homosexual) there's really no difference when it comes to child rearing and development.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_parenting

There is no compelling argument that marriage equality for same sex marriage will in any way affect the liberties of opposite sex marriages. Those who oppose same sex marriage equality have done little more than argue the "social order" or "traditional norms." All that really means is they're uncomfortable with it, or that it doesn't fit their definition of normal. Why and who cares? It's not your marriage. It doesn't affect you in any way, shape, or form.